Chaos' Heir

Chapter 1539: Rules

Truth be told, Khan wasn’t the only one dwelling on that troubling hypothesis.

Everything was going smoothly, too smoothly, which didn’t make any sense when considering the enemy’s prowess. The pocket universe’s strange environment was hard to navigate, but that hurdle was too minor to justify that otherwise easy progression.

Still, there was another truth to the matter, a far more helpless one. Even if the allied front was indeed playing into the enemy’s hand, walking into a trap, its strategy couldn’t change. That had never been an option, especially after invading the separate dimension.

Everyone in the elite team understood and accepted that point, putting concerns and pointless thoughts aside to focus on the mission. There was nothing the experts could do about it anyway. They could only trust their ability to deal with eventual traps.

Khan suppressed his desire to deal with the twisted forest himself to follow the plan and the two experts in matters of space. Liiza and Lord Envoy led the group across the seemingly endless woods for a while before heading for the obvious target.

The team coordinated without saying a word, setting off to fly toward the dimmer, but still white, sky above. That pure layer expanded endlessly in every direction, but a tiny dark dot became visible once the experts got high enough.

The dot revealed more of itself as the experts flew closer to it. That sea of whiteness had a crack in it, which took the shape of a vague ellipse once again.

Just like with the bottomless cavity, the sky stretched far higher, but an elliptical portal hovered among its fabric, promising to transport the elite team to a different environment altogether.

The presence of those doors added value to the trap hypothesis. After all, if the True Chaos could change the environment at will, it had no reason to create those passages in the first place.

Of course, that was only true if the True Chaos wanted to protect or hide its leader, which had become unclear by then. Something was at play there, and the allied front could only abide by those rules.

That general understanding of the situation made the experts dive headfirst into the crack, showing no hesitation at the potential dangers it could hide.

A teleport that wasn’t a teleport unfolded once more, removing all the whiteness and greyness the previous environment contained, restoring pitch-black but glowing darkness.

An environment that resembled the world where the Leviathan-class ship had landed expanded around the group, carrying no trace of the crack it had just crossed.

Khan and the others briefly inspected their surroundings, only for the starless sky above to attract their attention. It seemed they had returned to the celestial body’s surface, but no one felt like believing those impressions.

Those with better perception even spotted certain differences. The black surface and occasional geysers of glowing smoke were still there, but everything felt denser, as if built with better materials.

Khan’s uniqueness also gave him access to a more primal layer of perception. The air tasted different there, almost stale, hinting at the secluded nature of that seemingly open expanse.

Khan wasn’t alone in that. Perac, the hairy but bald evolved warrior from the Perac family, sniffed loudly, releasing a displeased groan at that stale stench.

It seemed the elite team was still inside the celestial body, following the trail the True Chaos had left for it.

Inside probably wasn’t an accurate description of that location, but the experts didn’t dwell on those details. That vast plain had no landmarks whatsoever, and the glances that fell on Liiza and Lord Envoy didn’t bring back anything promising.

Khan and Perac had sharp noses, but Liiza and Lord Envoy could sort of feel cracks, holes, or simple disturbances in the fabric of space.

Yet, nothing of the sort touched the two experts’ senses there. If anything, the place felt stretched, as if the laws of space worked to make it look bigger than it actually was.

That wasn’t exactly a surprise considering where the allied front was. Its enemy had created a whole pocket universe, and True Chaos made that celestial body. The God could probably play with the laws of physics freely there, turning a small chunk of land into an endless plain.

Still, that awareness did little to help Khan and the others. Liiza and Lord Envoy couldn’t see or sense anything that could lead the team closer to the God. They were basically lost, stranded in a world under the enemy’s control.

That predicament would typically lead to worry. After all, that could be the feared trap, but the idea didn’t convince the experts, and the environment soon proved them right.

The geysers of True Chaos quieted down, leaving only the immense plain and its dimmer glow. However, trails of smoke rose from the ground around the elite team in response, bringing three different auras with them.

The trails of smoke condensed in the shape of three two-horned evolved warriors with scarlet eyes, and the tallest among them ran his gaze over the enemy group, smiling when he spotted Khan and the Emperor.

The smile couldn’t really affect Khan and the Emperor, but what followed did. That tall, short-haired King stepped aside, spreading an arm to point in the distance.

Following the alien’s arm led nowhere. There didn’t seem to be anything that the King was pointing at, but the undeniable meaning behind his gesture put serious expressions on Khan’s and the Emperor’s faces.

The regulated universe was supposed to be an invader. The attack itself should have caught the True Chaos by surprise, but there the King was, inviting the enemy leaders inside, even showing them the way.

The matter would feel insulting if it weren’t so concerning. The gesture removed every doubt, too. The True Chaos was indeed setting the rules of engagement.

Of course, that wasn’t all. The other two Kings kept their scarlet eyes on the rest of the group, hinting at something else. Khan and the others could go ahead, but someone had to remain behind.